


Intimacy Hurts

by Fibi94



Series: Say You Won’t Let Go [1]
Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, It is canon compliant till episode 7, Mild Gore, Not Canon Compliant, Past Parkerita with lingering feelings, Someone dies before the end of this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:52:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21717187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fibi94/pseuds/Fibi94
Summary: Abigael kidnaps Harry, she uses all she learned from Macy about him, plus some extra she learned from her father to torture him.
Relationships: Harry Greenwood/Macy Vaughn, Mel Vera/Katrina Chandra, Parker Caine/Maggie Vera
Series: Say You Won’t Let Go [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589923
Comments: 47
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“She won’t be coming for you” Harry opens his eyes, he’s dazed, confused, the room around him is dark, cold, he quickly realizes that there’s a blindfold over his eyes, his hands tightly bound with coarse rope in the chair he is sitting, he feels a hand on his neck, the skin is cold, long fingers wrapping around his neck, not putting too much pressure, just enough to feel her, not enough to cut off the air circulation, “It’s just you and me now handsome” her breath is hot against his cheek, it makes him sick, the bile rising on his throat, he twists trying to get away from her but the ropes around his arms and legs are too tight and he can’t move. 

Her hand moves from his neck to his cheek, a lone thin finger tracing the skin, it’s so similar to how Macy explores his skin ever y so often when they are just lazying in her bed in the early mornings, before they have to get up and reenter the ever moving world around them, or at least she tries to make it be, but it’s not, where Macy's touch is soft, warm and relaxing, hers is cold, sharp as her nail softly digs in and unsettling.  He feels his stomach coiling, but he tries to keep his calm, he is not going to let her see, he won’t show just how much he wishes he could orb away, he tried a couple times already but he knows it’s futile, the cuff on his wrist, the one that resided in her wrist, is closed tightly, the metal biting in the skin right above where the rope is. 

He thinks of Macy, she said that she’s not coming and thinking back to their last encounter he can’t help but believe her.

XXXX

Macy bites her lip, the sound of the door slamming behind Harry is ringing in her ears still, even thought it’s been hours since, everything was going along fine between them, dreamy even, she knew something was bound to happen eventually. Something, she would say something, or she would do something and she would finally break him, it would finally make him leave and never come back, and she knows the moment her sisters find out about it, they will blame her as well, Harry is their family, they love him so much and she’s the reason he probably won’t be back now. 

“Shut up” she murmurs to herself, this was ridiculous, Harry is bound to come back soon, he wouldn't pull a disappearance act on them, he would never do that. She walks to her closet, his clothes are there, taunting her, she grabs a pair of jeans and a sweater and leaves quickly changing, in the bedroom, she looks at herself in the vanity, and winches, she looks horrible, she quickly puts her hair in a messy bun and looks away, when a navy cardigan catches her eye, Harry left it on the bed the night before while he was getting ready for bed, she was sure he hanged it in the closet but he didn’t, it was there, starring at her, she reaches over and takes it in her hands, the wool is soft, warm, she brings the item to her nose wondering if it smells like him.

She tugs at the sleeves as she goes down the stairs, her sisters knew about her and Harry, it was hard not to when they spend every single night together and his clothes hanged in her closet, but they were bound to notice his absence, she hopes she will see him at the command center later, they are supposed to take the night shift together.

The day passed incredibly slowly, their last argument playing in her mind constantly…

“ _We can’t keep trusting her Macy!” she’s still a little surprised every time Harry raises his voice,_ _she was so used i_ _n_ _the year she knew Harry of the mellow ma_ _nn_ _ered,_ _n_ _ever yelling professor persona he had embarrassed that to this day every time his darklighter’s ma_ _nn_ _ers peek through it’s a shock to the system for her. “_ _I’m sorry, I shouldn't have yelled.” he says, his head hanging low i_ _n_ _what she imagines is shame._

_She wants to reach over, to grab him and pull him close to her, “I need some air.”_

Right now she wants to slap herself for not actually doing it. She should have pulled him closer, she should have  stopped him from going out. She tried calling him a few times, called his phone too, but he seemed to be ignoring her. 

She hears the front door closing and feels her heart jumping on her throat, “Harry!” she says excited. Mel looks up from her bag, Macy tries but fails to stop her smile from falling, “Oh Mel.” she says, she hopes she could sound less dissapointed, Mel smiles “Nice to see you too Mace.” she says joking.

“Sorry, it’s just, Harry's not answering, I’m a little worried.” Mel nods sympathetically, “Did he seem upset?” she asks, she knows her sister values Harry's privacy too much to actually tell her if he told her how he was feeling but she hoped she wouldn't see her question as too intrusive.

“How would I know, haven't seen him since last night.” Mel says.

“He wasn't at the command center?” she asks, her throat closing, breath shortening. “No.”

XXXX

“Aw darling, out so soon?” her voice was sweet, so sweet that made his stomach turn, Harry opens his eyes, the blindfold was removed and he could finally see his surroundings, he was somewhere dark, there was some light coming from a couple torches on the walls, “Well there’s no fun in that.” she says and closes her fist, her eyes flashing red, for a moment Harry doesn't know what she’s doing, and then he feels it, heat, intense, burning, everywhere, around his neck, his wrists, his ankles. A scream leaves his lips, he tries, wills himself to stop, to not give her the pleasure of seeing him break, but he can’t, no matter how hard he tries, he just can’t, so he screams till his voice gives out.

XXXX

“Mel, what’s the problem?” Maggie says as soon as she enters the house, “Maggie!” Maggie stops at her tracks, the look on Mel's face is one she hasn't seen before, she’s seen parts of it before, she’s seen the brokenness when their mother died, she saw the terror when the Book of Shadows went up in flames, the hopelessness while they were waiting for Harry to wake up, but never this, never all these emotions wrapped in one.

“Harry’s missing” she says whispering, “Missing?” Mel shushes her, “I dosed Macy with sleeping potion she was not well, keep your voice down.”

“Alright.” Maggie says, her voice lower, “What happened?” she asks letting her bag down by the door and following Mel in the kitchen “They had a fight this morning and Harry left to get some air and had been MIA since then.”

“Did you try?”

“Calling him? Yes, many times.” Maggie bites her lip, and walks to the window above the sink, “That’s not like Harry.” Mel nods, it’s not, Maggie is not wrong, her mind goes back to the times Harry didn't respond right away to one of them calling and none was good, it was either because Charity had severed his connection to them, or because he was in Tartarus, or because he was actually dead.

“Could he just be, blowing off steam?” Maggie says, Mel looks at her, she knows very well what she’s doing, she used to do the same with Ray, always giving him excuses, always trying not to think of the worse, “Harry’s been a little more emotional and volatile recently, maybe he’s staying away till he gets everything under control.” she says, her eyes hopeful.

Mel bites her lip and nods, Maggie wasn't wrong, Harry was a little volatile, with powers out of control since ‘the incident’ he had admitted as much to her just last week…

“ _How’s it going Har?” she asks the whitelighter sitting in front of her, his shoulders were slumped, his eyes closed as he kept his nose over a cup of steaming hot coffee._

“ _Oh Mel.” he says trying to smile but it never reaches his eyes, she has noticed it’s been quite some time since the last time she has seen him smile, geniunly smile._

“ _Harry, what’s wrong?” she asks sitting down next to him, “You have us all worried.” he looks up biting his lower lip, his left fist clenching and unclenching. “Macy noticed?” he asks, Mel smiles, “Of course she did Harry!”_

“ _I didn't want to worry her.” he says pulling the cup to his lips, Mel can count in one hand the times she has seen him drink coffee and all of them had happened after_ he _came in the picture._

“ _Have you met Macy Vaughn?” she asks, finally succeeding in stealing a small laugh from him, “I still feel his madness” he says, he doesn't have to elaborate, she knows what he means, “Emotions or powers wise?” she asks, “Both.” Mel tries really hard to keep a neutral expression, she hates to see Harry so torn, lost almost, they all through, him included, that after he had finally managed to get all the pieces back, he would feel a little more centered, a little more whole, a little healed from all the hell the elders put him through, but at the end, he was even more broken. The darklighter’s powers, so foreign to him, so different from his own, familiar ones, all his human memories, the good, the bad and the ugly, the darklighter’s anger, lust, bitterness along with his own familiar powers coming unbound wrecked a havoc in their normally so put together whitelighter._

“ _Harry you have to talk to us, I don't know what’s bothering you, but unless you get it out of your system,”_

“ _He’s bothering me!” he stands up Mel pulls back a bit, surprised by his sudden outburst, “Dammit I can’t even be around you guys.” he looks away walking towards the other side of the room, “Macy treats me like I’m going to break, Maggie can barely be in the same room as I for longer than ten minutes, even you” he turns towards her “You jump back every time I raise my voice!” he closes his eyes, a deep sigh leaving his lips. “You’re all scared of me, I’m just a burden.” Mel chuckles, it makes Harry look at her confused, “Harry you fold your socks, excuse me if I’m not quivering at my feet, we’re scared about you, not of you.” she walks towards Harry, she doesn't know when exactly it happened, she remembers a time she clearly couldn't stand him and then another where she couldn't think of her family without him there, but she still can’t pinpoint the transition. Mel walks to Harry who was still standing a few steps away she puts a hand on his shoulder, “Harry we’re family.”_

“Let’s give him a few more hours. You are probably right.”

XXXX

When he opes his eyes again he’s home, Harry looks around disoriented a bit, but smiles, they came, his family came. He throws the covers off and gets up, his legs feel a bit shaky but he doesn’t care, they are probably waiting for him downstairs, he’ll just have to walk a little slower, that wasn't that big of a deal. He walks downstairs the house is lit warmly, there’s a fire going on the fireplace underneath the stairs, he can smell the tea and something sweet being baked in the kitchen.

He walks faster towards the sounds of his family, calling him. They are all there, Mel is standing by back door, Maggie is sitting on the counter, and Macy standing with her back to him looking at something in the oven. Mel notices him standing by the door first, she smiles but there’s something, something feels off in her smile. Maggie looks up next, the same smile on her lips as well, as if they're seeing something he’s not, Maggie nudges Macy before he can call out she turns around to face him, he almost cries out in relief when her smile seems the same as he remembers it, “Harry!” she says walking to him, her arms, warm, familiar, wrapping around him, he closes his eyes and buries his face on her shoulder, “I thought you wouldn't come” he murmurs, “I’m so sorry for storming out like that, I’m so sorry.” he feels her pull back, her fact twists, a sardonic smile forming “Well, thank you for your honesty.” she says before everything goes dark around him.


	2. Chapter 2

She doesn't need to open her eyes to know that he isn't by her side, Macy had become so accustomed to having Harry sleeping next to her that him not being there was the first thing she noticed, she got up and got ready mechanically, not even noticing when she pulled his cardigan on this time.

She wonders what to do, she knows that downstairs she will find her sisters waiting for her, with hopefully some answers, but right now does she want any answers? it’s been 24 hours and Harry was still nowhere to be seen after all. She wants to scream, this was a nightmare coming to life, she always feared that he would up and leave her, it was what everyone she loved eventually did. Her eyes fall on a picture Harry had placed on what became his nightstand and reaches over.

She remembers the day it was taken clearly, they had tried to have a date, a disastrous date as it turned out, the movie was terrible, the dinner was even worse, leaving Harry throwing up for an hour from food poisoning and ruining her favorite shoes…

“ _I’m so sorry I threw up on your favorite shows Macy.” he says as Macy helps him under the covers in her bed. “You don't have to have me here.” he says, and finds herself smiling at the sick, pouting man in front of her._

“ _God I love you so much.” she says under her breath, she didn't even realize she said it out loud until she saw his eyes widening, almost wondering if what he heard was true or not._

“ _Macy?” she sees him hyperventilate a little she realizes that it’s now or never, she sits down by his side, her hands cupping his face, he’s a little warm to the touch, his eyes are a little hazy from the food poisoning, and all her worries are wrecking a havoc in her._

“ _I love you.” his smile makes her worries evaporate._

He felt like crap for the whole night, kept them both up all night and not in a good way, but sometime around 4am Macy managed to convince him to take a picture together, _“Sure it was terrible but it was still our first date Harry.”_ as she’s tracing the lines of his face through the picture she’s glad that she did, even if she will never see him again she will treasure the few months she had him forever.

XXXX

Maggie walks in the kitchen quite early the next morning, she finds Mel sitting by the oven dressed, a cup of coffee in her hand looking mindlessly out the window at the city slowly waking up. “Any word?” she asks, Mel doesn'tneed to answer for her to know that the answer is not the one she wanted.“No”

Maggie looks outside, she bites her lip hard enough to draw blood, “He’s not blowing off steam is he?” she asks her sister, right now hating herself for even suggesting it, dreading that might have happened to Harry since last night. “I don’t think so Mags.”

“How’s Macy?”

“In her room, hopefully still sleeping.” Mel takes a sip from her coffee placing the mug on the counter, “Could their fight be so bad?” Maggie shakes her head, “Bad enough to get Harry to leave without a word?” she thinks over to what they went through in the last year and a half, “I don't think so Mel. it’s not like Harry.”

“I know.” Mel says shaking her head, “I’ll call Kat, maybe she can help, she did help us with Macy's journal that one time.”

“Yeah, call her.” Maggie says, she looks up towards Macy's room, almost wishing she could hear what her sister was thinking right ow, willing her powers to work somehow, anyhow “Honestly, this is the first time I hope Harry is passed out drunk in an alley or something.”

“Me too Mags, me too.”

XXXX

When Harry opens his eyes he realizes he’s no longer tied down on a chair, his hands are shackled with heavy metal handcuffs to a wall behind him. He looks down at himself, his shirt is completely removed, he feels the dried blood on his back and his throat is still sore from screaming and the collar, he brigs his hands up, patting his neck almost to convince himself that there’s really nothing there. He still feels the metal there, burning hot, she kept leaning closer, her breath on his cheek, taking in his pain, his screams.

Harry tries to get to a more comfortable position but his back is on fire, between the burning on his neck and the thin slashes on his back, some still bleeding he is really wondering if he will ever make it out of here. He wants to sleep. For a while forget where he was, dream of home, of a warm bed and loving arms, but he cant, he’s cold, so cold that his body wants to start shivering but he’s in too much pain for that, his back feels on fire every time he moves even a little and winches when he imagines how this will look. His eyes feel heavy and soon Harry realizes that he is fighting a losing battle...

“ _Relax baby, the more tense you are the more it will hurt.” she says leaning closer to his face, he’s lying on a metal table he tries to move his legs but they are strapped tightly, his arms are strapped on each side of his head, he finds that he can barely twitch with how tight the straps are biting into skin. He hears her heels hitting the concrete floor as she walks out of his sight, he wonders for a moment what she will do next, she doesn't leave him wondering for long as she puts a knife on his back, “I think some geometrical designs will look nice on your back, don't you?”_

Harry wakes up with a gasp, and jumps up, the shackles stop him from moving much, he tries to pull away, pull free, but the heavy cuffs and thick chain wont budge, it takes him a moment to realize what is happening and where he is.

He slumbers down, his breathing labored as he looks around him, for a moment he wonders if he will ever see another place but this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit short but I promise next chapter is much, much longer!!!  
> Thank you for reading


	3. Chapter 3

Mel was pacing outside Safe Space, Kat didn't answer her phone so she left a message hoping she will see it soon, she doesn't know if Kat will be able to help, she remembers back when she first got her powers she had issues controlling them, powers are connected to emotions after all, what if Kat’s emotions were still too unstable and, as she described them when they last talked ‘All over the place’ for her powers to work?

She shakes her head trying to shake these thoughts out. She cant be thinking like that right now, Kat is their only hope at the moment. Kat doesn't leave her waiting for long, she appears not a minute later, her hair thrown in a messy bun, similar to the one she saw her in the last time they saw each other, but she looked healthier, happier, Mel wishes she could stop herself from hugging her but she couldn't, Kat holds her tightly for a few moments before pulling back, there’s a concerned look on her face, her eyes searching Mel's face, “Mel! I got your call, how can I help?” she asks, and for a moment Mel wonders just how bad she sounded in the voicemail. “We can’t find Harry, remember him?”

“Tall, brown hair, hazel eyes attached to your sister Macy’s hip?” Kat says, a small smile grazing her lips, Mel chuckles, it had become a running joke recently with the people that knew them that wherever Macy was Harry was also, but Kat wasn't around Safe Space for some time and was still in on the same “joke” thinking back Mel realizes that Harry had a tendency to follow Macy like a lost puppy for quite some time now.“That’s the one.” she says smiling, “Can you help us?” she asks, Kat's face drops a little and leans closer to her, “I don’t have control over it Mel, I can try but,”

“Trying is more than enough.” Mel says cutting her off, right now they were desperate enough that trying was more than enough, they didn't really have any other options what to do really. “Alright, I need you to get me something he touched recently” Mel nods “Come on” she opens the door and leads Kat down to the command center, the woman looking at her a little shocked when the door appears out of nowhere, “Care to explain?” she asks looking at her wide eyed, “Later I will.” Mel opens the door and leads Kat down the stairs towards Harry’s little area of the side of the witchboard, all it’s lights flickering light blue. She walks to the book and picks up the decipher, of all the things in the command center this was probably the one he touched the most, “Here, he uses that daily.” she says passing the artifact to Kat, “Good, I’ll need some candles too.”

Mel took a step back and let Kat work in silence, she bites her lip, the minutes passing by agonizing slowly, Maggie walks in the command center not long after “Well?” she whispers “nothing yet, waiting” Maggie nods, she walks to one of the chairs at the opposite side of the room and sits down, Mel knows that she should follow her but her feel feel glued to the ground.

She’s not sure how long it was when Kat opened her eyes again, to her it felt like days but she knows deep down it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, an hour at most. Maggie jumps up from her seat, walking closer Mel could tell her little sister was holding her breath.“Well?” she asks hopeful that they will get some answers, any answers, even a simple clue would be enough.

“Abigael” Kat says her face a little dissapointed, Mel looks to her sister, both of them fully aware what that name means.“I’m sorry that’s the only thing I got.” Mel turns to Kat,“It’s more than enough,” she says smiling. Kat smiles back, Mel recognizes that little smile, it’s a prideful one, she feels good that she managed to help them no matter how little it might have seemed at the beginning, she was able to help them. Mel looks at Maggie one last time who nods to her and turns to Kat, “Let me walk you out.” she says smiling.

They walk out of the command center and into the switch room waiting for the door behind them to close and disappear from view before opening the door to Safe Space and the outside “real” world. “You still haven't told me what is this place,” Kat tells her smirking as they walked outside the crowded communal work space.

“I know and I will, as soon as we find Harry, I’ll tell you everything.” she promises, it was something she’s been thinking about for some time now, something Macy told her a while back when she asked her how it felt to be with Harry, while they were waiting for him to wake up after ‘the incident’.

“ _Do you love him?” Mel doesn't know what got over her, asking such direct question to her sister, Macy looks away from the unconscious man in front of her her face betraying the shock she feels being asked that question as well, “Yes.” she says her voice barely above a whisper, she looks back at Harry, “Why are you asking?”_

“ _I don't know really.” Mel admits, “How do you know?”_

“ _Know what?”_

“ _That you love him, that it’s not just some infatuation.” Macy bites her lip, her hand slowly comping Harry's hair, “how did you know that you loved Niko, or Jada?” Mel sits back, thinking back, how did she knew really? She remembers the feeling of being unable to go a few hours without hearing from them, she remembers being away feeling like some form of torture, she remembers the quilt of having to lie or hide things and the incredible relief when she stopped. “I couldn't be away from them, I wanted to know where they were, how they were.” she stops seeing the smile on Macy's face, the way her hand wouldn't leave Harry's hair, “But you know the feeling, don't you?” Macy nods and looks back to Harry's face._

“ _How does it feel?” she asks, “Compared to, you know...” she doesn't mention his name, they know better than to mention Galvin or Charity in the house in front of Macy or Harry, the scars their previous relationships left were still a little too fresh for both._

“ _I don't have to hide from Harry, I don’t have to lie about who I am, I know he loves me and accepts me, the whole thing, demon, witch, all of it.” she pauses for a moment, ‘Full acceptance, that’s nice’ Mel thinks. “I feel whole, I love you guys, I love you to death and you know that, but with Harry it’s different, he’s that little piece that was missing from my life, that little annoying piece. it’s like making a puzzle, and loosing the last piece, loosing that last corner, does it distort the whole picture, no, does it make the puzzle unusable, no, is it annoying that it’s missing, yes! that’s how it felt. And it doesn't any more. It’s nice not having to lie, or hide.”_

not having to lie or hide, she doesn't remember when was the last time she was in a relationship and could be completely honest with the person. She looks to Kat who’s smiling at her, and for a moment wonders is this, finally, the relationship that’s gonna work? Is this that dammed annoying missing corner? “Alright,” she says leaning closer and giving her a small kiss on the cheek, “Go find your brother in law.”

XXXX

Mel isn't sure why she didn't correct Kat when she called Harry her brother in law, she shakes her head, it’s not the time to think over that right now. She paces quickly to the command center right now all she cares is finding Abigael, and getting Harry back.

She finds Maggie starring the witchboard a circle pulsing on Chicago her hand hovering over the button to open the portal. “What are you doing?” she asks, her voice startling Maggie.

“Abigael has Harry, I’m going to Parker for help.” she says straightening up. “Abigael is his sister Maggie! he’s not going to help! Hell he probably put her up to it!”

“This is Parker we’re talking about! He would never do something like that!” Mel reaches over to touch her sister’s shoulder, “Maybe the Parker back in Hilltowne but this Parker, how can you be so sure, he pretended to be the Overlord for so long, maybe he decided he liked it!” Maggie pulls back, Mel's hand falling down by her side

“He wouldn't do it Mel! Parker loves me, he would never do something like that!”

“People change Mags and not always for the best and it doesn’t matter how much we love them.” she says just trying to make her sister see reason, Maggie's eyes harden as she turns back to the witchboard in front of her, “I’m going to find him Mel, he’s our only way to Abigael.”

XXXX

Maggie looks around her worried, sure she had placed all possible wards around her and it was well past midnight but being back in Hilltowne made her feel weird, she was back in campus back where she and Parker had their first date. Back then when everything seemed to ew, and wonderful and almost innocent. It makes her a little sad that they got to here but she doesn't have the time to think about it too much.

He appears on the edge of her wards there’s a familiar smile on his lips, she gets up “Parker.”

“Maggie, what is it?” he says walking closer to her his hand reaching over to take hers.

“Harry is missing,” she says, she can see his confusion turning to hurt, she is sure he thinks she’s accusing him for that, “Let me explain, we asked a friend, she’s a medium and she gave us your sister’s name. You are the only way to her we have.”

“Oh” he breathes out, no doubt in some relief that she didn’t think she could do something like that.

“She used the fruit, I think Godric was working with her maybe still is, I don’t know how much I can do, but I’ll try. Most of the demon world still answers to me, so I might be able to help him if I find him.”

“Thank you.” Maggie says giving him a light hug.“Thank you so much Parker, really.” he pulls away, the look on his face is a little scared, “Don’t thank me yet.”

XXXX

Macy needed to know what was happening, this radio silence was killing her slowly from the inside. Sure her sisters were doing everything to find Harry but she couldn't help but feel that she did nothing but lay under her covers in her bed and cry and she has had enough. She pulls the drawer in her vanity open a little roughly looking for the pad of paper she holds there turning to a clean page she wills her mind to remember a spell from the Book of Shadows she read what almost feels a lifetime ago.

It was complicated, the incantation both in English and Latin. But it was the only spell she can remember that might allow her to communicate with Harry. She bites her lip, strumming the pen against her thigh for a moment. “Mind to mind, soul to soul...” she bites her lip trying to remember what was following but she couldn't “Dammit!” she says throwing the pad away. She gets up from the bed and starts pacing the room slowly, muttering the spell, or as much of it as she remembers slowly. “Mind to mind, soul to soul, let my spirit find yours, I meld my…” Macy stops in front of her bed, she’s trying to remember the thing but she could barely remember the English part of it. “Dammit, dammit, dammit!” she takes the pad in her hand and rips off the previous page, she knows how tracking spells work, she knows how to amplify them, so what if she doesn't have the original spell, she will create one of her own. She starts writing feverishly the spell in English and translation it to Latin.

She grabs the picture from her nightstand, sparing herself a moment to trace his face through the glass. With a deep breath she places it on floor, she draws a circle of salt and powdered white quartz around herself and the picture and takes a deep breath this was truly now or never. Her hand clutching the small vial of the sleeping potion.

“Mind to Mind.

Soul to Soul.

Let my spirit find yours.

Your mind make an open book

For your thoughts to be my own”

She drinks the whole thing in one go and takes a deep breath, she only has a limited time before she sleeps to repeat the spell in Latin.

“Animum ad animum

Ut animam meam

Fiat utinam inveniat tuus spiritum meum

Et libri aperti, ut animum tuum

Vestra enim cogitationes meae esse.”

_When Macy opens her eyes she’s somewhere dark, there’s not much light around her apart from some barely lit torches around her, she’s frantically looking around for Harry and sees him slumbered against a wall, he’s behind a heavy metal door and for a moment Macy is frightened that she will not be able to actually get to him. “Harry !” she calls his name but it seems like he cant hear her. She walks to the door cautiously and places a hand on the cold metal, surprised when she felt her hand slipping through. She smiles and walks through the door as if it wasn't there “ Baby.” she kneels down next to him and gently pulls him on her lap, his hands are bound on the wall behind him but he still leans closer to her, almost as if he’s tryi n g to wrap his arms arou n d her. “Hey” she says softly, Harry ope n s his eyes slowly, she sees his face changing as the realization that it’s her and she’s there hits him. “Macy?” her heart shatters hearing him like that, she can hear the pain in his voice, she uses her left hand to cup his cheek, her right still tangled in his hair._

“ _I don’t have much time, where are you?” she asks him, Macy is counting how long she has, usually spells like that last for about 60 breaths, how many breaths was she in?“_

_Harry looks at her, his eyes lost, he realizes that this isn’t real, she can tell by the way his face falls, the way his eyes fill with tears, the way he bites his lip, he’s trying really hard not to break.“I don’t know, I don’t know.” he repeats stubbornly. Macy pulls him into a hug, tight, almost suffocating. She knows he’s probably in pain right now, she knows her pulling him that close and squeezing him is probably not advisable given all the injuries he nurses, but she doesn't care, this is her last lead, this is the only chance she has to find him._

“ _Harry I don’t have time, please tell me anything, how can I find you?” she asks him when she pulls back, Harry looks in her eyes, he stays silent for a moment and then gasps, it’s a pained gasp, the time is running out for them._

“ _Abigael.” he says, his breathing getting faster, shallower, Macy leans forward and kisses his lips, it’s feather light and he tastes like blood but she doesn’t care, “Alright. Hang on.”_

“Aww out so soon?” Harry wakes up to Abigael’s cold voice filling his ears, he keeps his eyes closed, not that it makes much of a difference, the blindfold it tied tightly around his eyes, he feels her hand on his thigh her nails digging into the soft flesh, he tries desperately to remember Macy, her hand on his cheek, her lips on his.” I really hoped you’d be more fun darling, it’s okay.” he doesn’t know when she got by his head, but her breath is hot on his cheek he tries to think of his family, they will come soon, of course they will, no matter what Abigael said, Macy promised she’s coming. He bites the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood, he’s not going to answer to Abigael’s taunts, he’s not letting her win,“Do you still think they’ll come for you?” she asks, he keeps his lips closed shut and tries looking away, but her hand clutches his jaw forcing him to look at her. He closes his eyes and feels her nails digging forcefully into the skin of his cheek. He is almost sure that she is trying to break skin, maybe she is, the pain is intense and unwillingly his eyes open.

“When I’m done with you, there will be nothing worth saving for your precious Charmed Ones.” she says, a sardonic smile on her lips as her palm collides with his cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Harry!” he hears a familiar male voice from somewhere to his left, and opens his eyes, he knows before the young faced man appears behind the door. He groans as he tries to shift to a more comfortable and maybe dignified position than lying in fetal position naked on the concrete floor. “Parker?” he says in a matter of fact tone, “Your lovely sister got you to join?” he says, just about a year ago he would never have guessed that Parker Caine, for all his faults would fall back into the demon world, back under the thumb of another member of his family, but here they were. “No, I’m here to help.” he says

Harry looks at him, the shock he’s feeling clearly manifesting on his face. “What?” he asks in shock, they both are a little too distracted to hear the sound of steps down the concrete steps, “My overlord!” Harry jumps back, the thin dirty blanket he’s been using to cover up whatever of his dignity was left slipped from his fingers, he quickly pulls it back and crawls to the corner of the room, he’;s too exhausted to draw attention to himself right now.

Parker’s back straightens, the look he gives him is confusing Harry, it’s not just a ‘Don’t worry I got this’ type of look, it was also an ‘I’m sorry’ type look. “Godric.” he says, his voice measured, cold. “Any problems?” the demon asks, trying his hardest to sound as respectful as he could, Harry can tell it’s fake for a mile away, but Parker’s face is looking away from him and he can’t warm the young man for the life of him. “Yes, why is this whitelighter here?” he says, his hand pointing nonchalantly towards the are Harry was currently curled up in. he doesn't know what game or angle Parker is playing but Harry knows better than to talk right now. Whatever it is, whether it will succeed of fail he knows it will be better for him to stay silent. “Do we need a reason to have a whitelighter here?” Godric asks almost as if he’s not understanding what Parker means, Harry can tell where this is going, he can tell very well where it’s going, Godric is not stupid, he’s the farthest from it actually. he’s smart, cunning, manipulative and ambitious. He knows it’s only a matter of time before Abigael stabs him in the back, and he’s keeping his door back in to power open through Parker, poor innocent Parker who all he wanted was peace between the magical community and a future with Maggie.

“We are not in the business of torturing creatures that did nothing to us, and last I checked this whitelighter didn't.” he says, his voice raising a little. Harry can hear the anger, boiling just under the surface, Godric is clenching his jaw, “My overlord he’s the last of his kind.” he says, his voice not betraying the anger he surely must be feeling, “And an innocent.” Parker retorts, there’s silence between the two of them for a moment too long and Harry dares, to maybe slightly hope that this nightmare was coming to an end, could Parker had really pulled it off?

Godric sighs “She was right, you are too weak.” he says and before either Harry or Parker had time to repsond the demon launches forward, his hand clutches around Parker’s neck and slowly raises him up from the ground. Parker’s feel kicking the empty space weekly as the air supply to his lungs lessened, and then the sickening crack as Godric twitches the hand holding Parker’s neck, snapping the bones there. Parker’s feet stopped kicking and Parker Caine falls to the ground motionless, all life having left his body.

XXXX

“Home sweet home.” Mel says closing the door behind Kat, “No blindfold this time.” she says smirking a little, Mel smiles and looks down for a moment, hoping that her cheeks didn't flame red. “Yeah, I trust you not to give us up.” she says, Kat smiles and reaches for her hand. “Thank you.” she says, her smile honest, warm, it makes something in Mel stir, she thought she was done with these feelings for some time, but she apparently didn’t. She bites her lip, coughs and looks around, “Anyway, you told me that the connection you managed to get with the decipher was weak, so I thought maybe being here, in his home, our home it would help,” she stops, looking at Kat who was looking around the room, “Help you make more of a connection.”

Kat nods “It might.” she says, her face suddenly becoming serious, “Where does he spend most of his time?” she asks, Mel takes a deep breath, Harry has a lot of places he spends time, he cooks dinner in the kitchen, he reads his paper in the sun-room, he works out in the basement, he practices his new powers in the back yard, but none of this had any more connection to him than the command center, she bites her lip, “Either in his and Macy’s bedroom or the attic.” she says convinced this was the best answer, he was sick in these rooms, he slept in these rooms, he let his guard down in these rooms, hell he even died and was reborn in both these rooms, these things are bound to form strong aura connections. “In general, he has spend the most time in the attic.”

“What’s going on?” Mel and Kat turn towards the staircase, Macy was standing a few steps away from them, her arms crossed over her chest, she was still wearing one of Harry’s cardigans, the thick blue one she was wearing yesterday. “Macy.” Mel smiles and turns to Kat standing next to her silent, “This is Kat, she’s here to help.” Macy nods, there’s a small smile on her lips which never reached her eyes. “I know who is responsible.” she says.

Mel looks at her sister shocked, “What?” Macy nods her left hand clutching her right arm “I contacted him, it’s Abigael.”

Kat gasps, “Abigael, that’s the name I got.” she says shocked, Mel feels Kat’s eyes moving from her to Macy and back, Mel looks at Macy, she hopes her sister understands what she’s about to do, relieved when she saw her nod positively.

“Kat, me and my sisters, our mom too, we’re witches.” she says, she’s almost shocked when Kat didn’t laugh or scream but simply frowned her brows “Witches?” she asks, “Yes, witches, magic, it’s real.” she says.

“Oh.” Kat says a little starstruck “I thought.” Kat pauses and looks to Mel and Macy again, “You guys will explain this to me later. Right?” she asks, Macy nods at Kat who smiles, a tight a little strained smile.

“Alright, Macy how did you contacted Harry?” Mel asks her sister, “A spell, I used the connection I had with him, to reach Harry.” Macy doesn't need to explain to him who the _him_ was and was glad that Kat didn’t ask either. “He doesn't know where he is, but he told me it was Abigael.” Mel breathes out, all roads lead to Abigael it seems. “We’ll find the where,” she says walking to her sister, clutching her shoulder tightly. “Maggie went to Parker, and Kat can try to connect with a spirit that might know more.” she says “Right Kat?”

“Yes, don't worry Macy, we’ll get your husband back.” Kat says, Macy coughs, she doesn't know where Kat got the idea that Harry is her husband but she doesn't really mind, and it definitely doesn't bother her enough to correct Kat. “Thanks.” she says smiling. “So what do you need?”

“Something he touched, preferably an article of clothing. Or maybe his favorite book, or favorite mug, maybe his pillow” Macy plays with the cuff of the cardigan she wears, clothing, her first instinct is to take off the cardigan she’s wearing but then she’d have his scent leave her, she bites her lower lip, “I’ll get you his pillow, and his favorite pajamas.” she says, Kat smiles “Good.” she says.

Mel looks at her sister walking back upstairs and disappearing to her and Harry’s room. “I’ll get his mug from the kitchen, the more stuff we have the better right?” Kat nods,“Right,” she says, Macy walks out of the room, a pair of pajamas well folded, and a pillow under her arm.

Macy waves to Kat to come over, the woman smiles and gets up the stairs, “Now Mel told me he spends most of his time either in your bedroom or the attic, correct?” Macy smiles, “Yeah, although the bedroom is more recent he used to sleep in the attic at first.” she says.

“Alright, then we should go to the attic.”

_Kat opens her eyes, she’s in a garden where the spirit called her. The spirit is that of a young man in his early twenties, he walks to her but his face falls when he sees her “Who are you?” he asks, his head turning around looking for someone else “Where’s Maggie?”_

_Kat places a hand on the man’s shoulder, he looks to her, she was looking for Harry Greenwood’s location and this spirit called her here, so he must know something after all about what she’s looking for even if she isn’t the one he was looking for. “My name is Katrina I am trying to find Harry Greenwood, do you happen to know where he is?” she asks._

“ _Yes,” he says and Kat feels like her heart is jumping out of her chest. “What’s your name?” she asks gently._

“ _Parker.” he says “Parker Caine.” Kat bites the inside of her cheek, she knows that name well enough, Mel had talked of her sister’s ex boyfriend who out of the blue proposed to her, before leaving again when Maggie said no. “My sister has him, they are in Switzerland few miles away from Bern”_

Kat opens her eyes back in the attic where she started, Mel was kneeling down next to her, she looks around the room, the third sister, the youngest, Maggie had joined them. “Kat, what is it?” Mel asks, Macy is biting her thumb nail while Maggie is leaning against a table her lip between her teeth. “I have his location.” Kat says to Mel and then turns to the youngest sister, probably about to shatter her world “And a message for Maggie.”

“What message?” Maggie says leaning forward, “From who?”

“Parker, he said, he’s sorry he couldn't help more, and to know that he loved you and wants you to be happy.”

Her eyes fill with tears “So he’s...” she doesn't manage to finish her sentence, Kat feels for her, she really does, “I’m sorry.” she says sympathetically.

Macy feels horrible, Maggie send Parker to help Harry and now he was dead, even after everything that had happened between the two of them Maggie still has deep intense feelings for him. “Mags.” she says walking to her youngest sister, Maggie gives her a sad smile and reaches for her hand.

“Let’s get Harry, ok?”

XXXX

“Macy!” Mel says exasperated, she and Maggie tried time and time again to get Macy to stay back, it’s not that they couldn't use her help, because they would, but Macy right now is more or less a ticking time bomb. “I am coming with you guys end of discussion!”

“Macy you’re not thinking clearly!” Maggie says, she has seen first hand how Macy’s emotions, especially when Harry is concerned make her irrational, “I can’t sit back and wait!” Macy takes a deep breath, she knows full well how irrational she is becoming whenever Harry is involved, that isn’t something new to her, she knows, but right now all she cares about is seeing him again, of making sure he’s safely back home. “We don't know what Abigael did to him, I’m the only one he’ll listen!” Macy knows she won this round when she heard Mel sigh, she was right, both her sisters knew that, Harry, with all of his new powers all these new intense emotions had only one ‘pull in case of an emergency’ button and that was Macy. They had both witnessed Macy talking him down from fits of unreasonable rage that left the room he was in, in ruins without a simple scratch on her. They saw her stare at him defiantly when he would get too much in “his head” and watched as Harry was the one to back down first. No matter how much they might have wanted to keep Macy from Abigael and her clan, they knew they would be safer if the let Macy with them.

“Fine, but you get Harry and leave the fighting to us.” Mel says, Macy nods, this was all she needed, sure she wanted to find Abigael and make sure she was dead, she wanted to ensure the Caine family line ended by her hand, but that was what she wanted, what she wanted was not as important as what she needed and what she needed was to wrap Harry in her arms and never let him out of her sight again.

“Fine.”

XXXX

Macy didn't bother with the fighting the broke out almost as soon as they stepped foot in the house where Parker told them Abigael was holding Harry. The guard although not as big as Maggie had met when she visited Parker in the grand house outside Zurich, is still large, not too large to be unmanageable but just large enough to make Maggie and Mel break a sweat. After Macy made sure that Mel and Maggie had the situation under control she turned her attention towards the west part of the house, she knew, from what Parker had told Kat that she would soon come across a heavy metal locked door, she pulls out the small vial with the unlocking potion and throws it to the lock of the door which slowly melts into a small pool of almost boiling melted metal. Not she realizes why Mel insisted she uses the unshackling spell on Harry and not this potion.

Macy shakes her head and pushes the door in, she can slightly remember the layout, in her spell she landed outside his cell, it seemed to be the last one, separate by the others behind heavy wooden doors, she looks around the dark corridor trying to make out which ones of the doors around her would maybe fit the doors she saw, the heavy wooden doors are on the far end of the corridor, she gasps, just behind that set of doors was the cell she saw, just behind these doors was Harry. She quickens her pace as she wills her feet to carry her faster to the end of the corridor, to Harry.

“Well, well, well, look who finally joined us!” Macy freezes at her spot when she hears her voice behind her. For a moment she considers whether or not she should just kill Abigael and run to where she thinks Harry is, or if she should try and maybe confirm she wasn’t walking in a death threat.

Macy turns around, her jaw set, her hands curling in tight fists. “Where is Harry?” she asks through her teeth. Abigael laughs, it’s low and empty but it sends chills down Macy’s spine. “Why should I tell you? Your boyfriend has been so entertaining!” something inside Macy snaps, she launches forward towards the half demon, it seems that this move surprised her, because it was after Macy’s hands curled tightly around her throat and her feet no longer touched the ground that she started to fight back, Macy felt a sharp kick on the side of her calve. It was clear that Abigael was aiming for something more substantial, probably her knee, if she ahd to guess. She decides she is done playing around, the flames engulfing her hand which is still tightening it’s hold around her throat. “Entertain this!” she says as she applies more pressure. Soon after Abigael’s body goes still, her eyes roll in the back of her head as she slowly looses the fight.

When Macy releases her the lifeless body falls to the ground, the skin of her neck almost completely burned off.

Macy feels the bile raising in her throat as the smell of the burned flesh that engulfs her, later when Harry is safely back home she will probably have to throw up, she’ll probably scrub her hands raw to remove the feeling of the burning, melting flesh off, but right now, she just vigorously rubs her hand on the side of her jeans, trying to wipe off the feeling, knowing her hand is clean.

This time she sprints to the heavy wooden doors ahead of her, when she gets there she is relieved to find them unlocked, for a moment, terror grips her soul, why would these doors be unlocked, did that mean that anyone had free reign over Harry, could any low life demon wander in and beat their frustrations out on him? Macy shakes her head trying not to think of that, it wasn't worth it after all, not right now.

She pushes the door open decisively and walks inside the circular room she remembers all to well. This time she can’t walk right through the metal door separating her and Harry and he’s curled upo in a spot that she cannot see him from the small opening. She throws the remaining of the unlocking potion to the door with a little more force than she intended, the potion spills all over the door, not just the lock and slowly but surely the whole door starts melting down. The pool of metal is too big, so she murmurs a cleaning spell under her breath while she walks in the cell. She catches glimpse of his cuffed hands behind the concrete seat that doubled as a bed, she could see a moldy thin dark gray blanket thrown over him, he was lying on the ground curled up trying to almost disappear from view.

“Harry!” Macy runs to his side and kneels down by his body. She takes in the changes in his appearance since the last time she saw him, during her tracking spell, now his clothes seemed to be completely off, he was using the blanket to cover up himself. Her hand moves to cup his cheek, his whole faced seemed to be a little more bruised than the last time but other than a cut on his lip, a hand shaped bruise on his left cheek and two small cuts one on his right cheekbone and the second on his forehead, his face seemed to be unscathed. She gently pulls back the blanket Harry is clutching tightly even unconscious trying to inspect the damage.

Macy manages to pull off the fabric just a little bit, exposing his shoulders and upper chest to her eyes, but the sight was enough to make her stomach turn a little, dozens, hell hundred bruises and cuts littered his skin, some cuts seemed a little older dried blood covering them others fresh and still bleeding, staining his skin further.

“Harry,” she says again, begging and begging he wakes up, “Please open your eyes, baby please open your eyes.” her thumb traces his cut cheekbone lightly she tries to avoid the cut itself, the pad of her finger only tracing around it., a small groan leaves his lips as his eyes flutter open “Macy.” his voice is soft, trembling as his eyes fall closed again.

“Keep your eyes open, Harry, please, eyes on me okay?” Macy sees him struggling to stay awake as she turns her attention to his stretched arms, in order for him to completely hide his body from anyone who may be looking from the outside he had outstretched his arms over his head trying to pull as far away. She tries remembering the unshackling spell but her brain is completely blank for a moment, the rage she felt when she saw him like that completely overwrote all other information she might have had. She sees his eyes snapping open, he looks around in terror and then turns back to her.

“Abigael?” he asks she sees a small flash of terror in his eyes as he asks and Macy feels the demon inside her fighting to break free, she grits her teeth and takes a deep breath “She’s dead.” she says, Harry’s breath slows a bit and she sees his whole body posture changing, suddenly his shoulders are slack, he allows himself to lay back down but he’s not trying to fit his entire body behind a small bench.

Macy takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair, knowledge and common sense slowly flooding back into her brain. She pulls his cuffed arms slightly to her as the incantation for the unshackling spell returns to her.

“ _Sever the tie that binds to_

_that which no longer serves”_

the offensive metal bonds disappear and Macy pulls Harry’s hands down, she hears his groan a little in pain at the sudden movement and she stops. His eyes flutter open, “This is real, right?” he asks, the uncertainty, the brokenness in his voice chipping away at her soul.

Macy bites her lip tightly and helps Harry to sit up “100 % real Harry.” she pulls her marble from the pocket of her jeans, thankful that Maggie had suggested they take different portals after all. The sound of the fighting from above had died down, and since demons hadn’t swarmed the place yet she imagines that Mel and Macy had contained the threat already, she turns to Harry, he’s still lying down not daring to move even an inch.

“Let’s get you home baby.” Macy says helping him up.

The moment they walked through the portal, with Harry’s right arm around her shoulders, his left hand clutching the thin dirty blanket around his body like a shield, her left hand at his waist clutching him tightly, his heart thumbing loudly against her right hand she finally was able to breathe freely again.


	5. Chapter 5

Mel and Maggie are back in the house not long after Macy and Harry. Getting Harry from the command center to the house was hard and had taken quite a toll on him, Macy barely had time to get Harry up the stairs in their room and into the bed before he collapsed.

“Everything under control?” she asks Mel and Maggie as soon as they walked in the room. Maggie nods, “We couldn't find Parker, but we got Godric.” she says “How’s Harry?” Macy looks down at the unconscious man next to her. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully she runs her hand through his hair, “I cast a pain relieving spell to help him sleep better. He was tossing and turning.” Mel nods and walks to the other side of the room to pull the chair from her vanity closer, Maggie already making herself comfortable at the foot of the bed the three of them spend the rest of the night in silence. Macy felt herself unable to tear her eyes from Harry, she used whatever healing potions she could on the injuries she could find, the cuts on his face slowly healing, the bruise on his cheek thankfully completely gone. She had a bit of a harder time healing some of the injuries on his body, it seemed as if no matter how much she tried his body put up a fight, refusing to be healed.

She doesn't know how much time had passed but she was half asleep when she felt him stir underneath her…

XXXX

Harry could feel something soft underneath him, the familiar scent of lavender and cocoa butter filling his nostrils, but he refuses to open his eyes, he faintly remembers Macy coming to him, she pulled him up, took the cuffs off, he remembers walking through a portal, although a little faintly he is sure he remembers these things, but he can’t let his guard down, Abigael has proven to be sadistic enough, he wouldn't put it past her to have build such elaborate scheme to torture him, to chip away at his mind, at himself. He feels his whole body slowly shaking, expecting the blinding pain to come but it never does. “Harry,” he hears Macy’s voice next to his ear, her hand comping his hair gently. “hey, hey you’re home.” she says her other hand gently cupping his cheek, he tries to get away from her, this isn't Macy, no matter how much she looks like her, ‘This is Abigael’ he says to himself again and again, he knows this scene too well, he had trusted her once too many times, when he would find himself waking up in a comfortable bed with little to no pain and Macy’s soft hand on his face only for her face to twist and change to Abigael’s just as he was about to kiss her, leading to him waking up with even more pain. “No, no, no please stop, I can’t anymore!”

He feels Macy’s hands grasping his arms tightly, but still no pain really hit him so he tries harder to get out of her grip, to get away from her, “Harry please stop moving. This is real, you’re home.” she says.

“ _levate velum ut dolorem sistant_

_omnia ibi requiescent”_

He feels hot bringing pain hit him like a truck, somewhere in his brain he can hear Macy “Mel what did you do?” he opens his eyes and looks around the room, the pain is blinding but he finds Macy right there, still next to him, her hand still on his face. “Harry!”

“This… this is real?” he gasps, his eyes moving from Macy’s tear stricken face to Maggie, still holding his ankles down at the end of the bed, her grip much laxer than it was just minutes again, to Mel standing next to the bed, her arms wrapped around her, a small warm smile on her lips.

“Yes, yes it is.” Macy says, he turns back to face her, even the slight movement of his neck sends bolts of pain down his spine making him gasp.

“Oh.” he closes his eyes, trying to will the pain to end, he was finally home, finally with his family and he could barely breath from the intense pain he felt.

“ _accipere malum_

_sana dolor_

_pro delicto unius animae auferatur velamen proprio cerebro”_

Macy says, her hand leaving his forehead where she traced a small circle as she chanted the spell. Harry feels his whole body relaxing, the pain slowly leaving, his lungs able to draw in breath without feeling like on fire.

“Oh, I’m home” he gasps, everything around him seem a little more bright right now, the colors on the walls more vibrant than before. He feels the pressure from Maggie’s hands on his ankles the warmth of Macy’s palm, everything feels exactly as it should be and he wonders how the hell didn't he notice that before.

“Of course you are Har.” Maggie says smiling, the pressure from her hands lessening until she’s merely touching him over the cover.

“Home” he whispers a smile forming on his lips as he slowly welcomes sleep.

XXXX

When Harry opens his eyes again the room around him is dark, he feels like sobbing when he sees that he’s still at home, that this wasn’t an extremely well thought out and acted scheme. Mel and Maggie seem to have left the room, Macy was asleep next to him, her hair lightly tingling his cheek. He moves a bit the pain relief spell seems to be still in effect. Macy moves, her hand on his waist pulling him closer. She groans softly and buries her face deeper in his shoulder, it makes him smile a little, she slowly opens her eyes “Harry!” she says, a large smile on her lips as she leans closer to place a soft kiss on his lips. He smiles, he wants to pull her closer but he feels his dried blood still on his skin. “I should clean up. I’m gross” he says trying to make a joke, he looks down, he hopes she thinks it’s just the dried blood he was referring to when in reality the dried blood was the last thing that bothered him. Macy nods, “Yeah, wait I’ll get you a change of clothes and some towels.” he feels the mattress move as she got up, his eyes following her as she disappeared in their closet.

She’s back out not long after, placing a pile of towels, a pair of sweatpants, a sweater and clean underwear in on hand and his bathrobe in the other. “Come on” she goes to help him got up but he froze, the moment her hands went to move the blanket from over him, his hands clutching the fabric tightly.

“Harry I’ve seen you naked before.” she says her hand reaching over to grab his lightly. Harry looks at her, “I…” he doesn't know what to say, he wants to tell her so much but his words left him.

“I don’t care about scars if that’s what you’re afraid of, or ashamed.” she tells him, her smile warming his soul, he sits up the blanket he was clutching like a shield in front of him gently falls down, pooling around his lap. He looks away from her “It’s ugly” he says stubbornly looking away from her. Macy kneels down in front of him, her hand reaching his jaw gently turning his eyes to her, “I’ve seen it.” she tells him leaning closer. “I’ve seen you naked yesterday and I didn’t care about it then Harry.”

He looks at her silent, the world trapped in his throat, he simply nods. Macy smiles, gets up and leans forward her lips touching his for a very brief moment, before her hands clutch his, “Let’s get you up”

They walk to the bathroom slowly, Harry finds his feet feeling a little out of use, but Macy walks slowly, her hand clutching his waist tightly.

The walked in the bathroom, Macy gently helps him to sit on the closed toiler lid. While she silently went to prepare the bath, he leans back his eyes trailing her as she moves gracefully around. After a little time she turns around, “Okay, let me help you in.” she says smiling, her hands gripping his hands as she gently pulls him up.

Her hands reach the belt around his waist keeping the bathrobe closed and unties it, she can hear his breath getting caught in his throat as the air hits his bruised, sensitive skin. Macy puts her arms around his waist pulling him closer, she knows some of his newer injuries probably hurt as they’re being crushed against the fabric of her shirt.

She wonders if the feeling of panic that grips her heart right now will ever subside, if she will be able some time soon to return back to a state of mind where she would be able to be fine if he’s not in her sight. She pulls back and looks at the man still in her arms, he’s leaning a little closer, but still not close enough to touch.

Macy smiles and pulls farther back, her hand wraps around his waist as she slowly starts walking towards the bathtub, filled with warm water and foams. It takes them some effort to get Harry in the bathtub without toppling over but they did it, Macy grips his arm tighter as he slowly lowers himself in the water until he’s almost completely covered by the bubbles, with only the tops of his knees and his upper chest and head visible.

“Is the water ok? it’s not too hot right?” Macy asks when she sees him trying to suppress a winch. He looks to her, his eyes slightly shinning with unshed tears and she feels as if her heart is breaking. “It’s great” he says, Macy smiles back and kneels down next to him in the tub, her hand gently rubbing circles on his shoulder. She can feel the tension under her fingers, “Harry, hey it’s okay, you can relax.” she says trying as best she could to pull him into a hug. “Let me wash your hair.” she says standing up, her knees protested a bit but she ignores it moving behind Harry, she pulls his shampoo from the shelf behind her. She takes her time working the bubbles in his hair. A small moan leaves his lips while he closes his eyes and pushes back deeper into her hands.

“Macy” he says whispering,” Hmm?”

“Thank you.” he says, Macy stops her hands falling onto his shoulders and she leans forward, the ends of her hair falling in the water, her lips centimeters away from cheek.” What for?”

the look on his face wants her to pull him into her arms and never let go, “Coming to rescue me” he says, his face falling, eyes looking down to the water covering his body from view.

“Harry look at me,” she says her hand gently moving from his shoulder to his chin “look at me.” she says gently coaxing him to look at her,,the look in his eyes chipping away from her resolve to just stay strong. “I love you alright, and that means you’re stuck with me. I was so worried, when you didn't show up.” her voice breaks, her hand moves from his chin to cup his cheek her forehead touching his gently. “Macy” he says, his voice husky, she knows very well he;’s keeping back tears right now, exactly like she is, she pulls away and looks into his hazel eyes, glassy, she can see him trying to smile, his hand on the back of his neck. She feels the water slowly dripping down her back inside her shirt. “I’m here now, thanks to you.”

Macy smiles and nods, “You’re not allowed to leave, ever again.” she says stealing a kiss, when they pull back he chuckles, it’s the first time in a long time that she heard that sound, it’s the first time that his eyes reflect the smile slowly forming on his lips, and she knows that they are not completely fine yet, but they will get there, “I’ll stay glued to your side if you want me.”

“That sounds nice.”


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set six months after the last, and it's festive.  
> Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Harry looks at himself in the mirror of his and Macy’s bedroom as he straightens his collar for the hundredth time Maggie insisted they all join the Safe Space Christmas party, this was the first time he and Macy would be out on a date for some time. He moves from foot to foot the box in his pocket weighting him down almost to his knees.

In a crazy rush of insanity he walked into a jewelry store today, the ring caught his eyes instantly, the bright emerald catching the light behind the glass. They weight of what he did didn’t hit him until he entered the command center and saw Macy sitting in his chair, she turned and smiled and realized that he couldn't tell her. So he smiled and gave her her cup of coffee he got for her from the small coffee shop two streets over.

“Are you the fairest of them all?” Harry jumps when he hears her voice a small yelp almost leaves his lips, his hand going to his trousers’ pocket before he turns to look at Macy walk in the room. He tries to hide the gasp but fails, Macy smiles widely “Do you like it?” she asks showing the dress she was wearing. It was similar to her red dress that to this day still has the power to make him kneel at her feet, but it’s in a warm white shade, with tight sleeves covering her well toned arms, leaving her slim shoulders and collarbone uncovered. She paired it with her red heels and a pair of gold, ruby earrings, her hair pulled back in a lose low bun.

“You look stunning.” he says smiling, she smiles widely “You don’t look so bad yourself. No sweater?” Harry looks down at his sweater free torso, he contemplated wearing one but decided against it, settling in wearing his green suit and a very festive pin on his lapel. “No, not tonight.” She had walked closer to him, Harry finding himself reaching out to take her hand and pull her even closer, “Should we skip the party?” she says, he knows what she’s doing, she’s actually been looking forward to this party so it’s definitely not a change of heart.

He smiles “Maggie would be dissapointed, we’re long overdue for a date, and...” he pauses taking a deep breath “I’m long overdue to start mingling with people again. I’m done hiding in my cocoon, well the command center and the house.”

“Oh Harry,” she whispers, her hands wrapping tightly around his shoulders pulling him tightly against her body he smiles against her naked shoulder and buries his nose in the small space where her neck and shoulder meet and breathes in her scent, her perfume filling his nostrils anchoring him to reality, to her.

He pulls back and offers her his arm “If you’re ready Dr. Vaughn, your sister will never forgive us if we’re late.” he says. Macy pulls a sleek red coat over her shoulders and grabs his arm, “Let’s go professor.”

They disappear from their room in a flash of light, reappearing outside Safe Space in the small dark alley he always uses to orb to when he doesn't orb straight to the command center, they walk out to the light of the street and walk to Safe Space. He opens the door for her and she smiles her hand finding his as soon as she could. They see Maggie standing by the bar with Jordan, her head thrown back in a careless laugh, Harry turns to Macy smiling “It’s good to see Maggie smiling again.” she says. Mel is standing by the store, Kat is with her, she smiles and waves happily to the two of them and they wave back. In the last six months Kat slowly started easing her way back to the shop and to the whole magical community as well. She was one of the few outside people he interacted in these last six months and he found himself liking the young woman.

He gripped Macy’s hand and they started walking around the open room, strategically avoiding people that might want to talk to them, finding a quiet corner not far away from the party to be considered as having bolted but far away enough for the noise and the people to not be overwhelming. Mel and Maggie came and went periodically sitting with them before returning to Jordan or Kat respectively.

They were at the party for about two hours now and the people slowly started filtering out, Harry felt panic raise in his throat, clutching his heart like a vice, he had planned so many scenarios on how to ask her the question that’s been eating away at him, but he always chickened out.

At first he thought of asking her after they finish their dance but the song came and went, she smiled and kissed his cheek and he found himself forgetting how to breathe.

Then he thought he would pull her away for a moment, maybe pull her down at the command center or even the switch room but every time he picked up the courage, someone would come by and his courage would deflate like a pierced balloon.

So here he was, the party slowly ending, Christmas eve ending in a short half hour with the ring weighting like a tone of bricks in his pocket.

“Harry what is it?” Macy asks, her hand wrapping around his tightly, he turns to look at her, “Can we go for a walk?” he asks, he doesn’t know where exactly they would land but all his plans tonight went up in flames so maybe improvising would work better. “Sure” she says picking up her coat from the back of her chair and throwing it over her shoulders “Where to?”

Harry looks outside for a moment, it started snowing earlier this week but it stopped snowing in the last couple days. Looking out the window he can make out the soft snow flakes falling gracefully from the sky. He gets up and puts on his coat giving her his arm, “We’ll see.” he says.

The air outside is cold, but he’s thankful it’s not too windy, he knows from past experience that in windy conditions he might just have to orb them back home ending their walk short. They walk in silence for some time, walking away from Safe Space and pacing by the empty lot hiding their home, walking towards the ferry docks.

“Forgot to tell you, I managed to work out a new power. Or an old one. I don’t know.” he tells her when they reach their unintended destination. She gasps and squeezes his hand, her feet planted on their spot “Show me!” she says, her eyes shinning with sheer excitement.

He smiles and takes his hand out of her grip slowly removing his glove, Macy grips his elbow and leans closer, her eyes stuck on his hand. Harry takes a deep breath, he thinks back to the moment he woke up, the day after Macy found him, the relief, the calmness, the sense of security, and he lets all of these feelings take over, strengthen him, he looks around one last moment and closes his eyes taking a deep breath. Her gasp tells him it worked, and he opens his eyes to see that indeed his hand was engulfed in bright icy white cloudy lights.

“You hand.” she says.

“Yeah” he smiles and closes his fist, the lights slowly going out “I don’t know what use it might have but, I just learned how to control it.” he says.

“Do you think this is from your...” she doesn't say it but he knows what she’s wondering, he shakes his head “No, it takes positive emotions, contentment to be exact. Self assurance. It explains why I never had access to it before. I never felt content, I was never sure of my place.” his hand curls around the box taking a deep breath, they were by the docks, the lights of the city reflecting on the dark water. He doesn’t know how he hadn’t thought about it before but this was indeed the perfect place. “Now I do.” he says his glove free hand cups her cheek, gently rubbing her cheekbone “It’s right here, with you, and your sisters. it’s with my family in my home and you are my home.” he sees her eyes searching his face, a small smile on her lips.

“I was planning on doing the whole old fashioned thing, the going down on one knee, the asking your sisters for your hand, I had it all planned. But through the night, my plans kept blowing up, one after the other. And I realized the hell with the plans, the hell with waiting.” He looks at her, the smile had frozen in her face, her lips parting a little, her eyes studying his face.

Harry smiles and takes her hand in his, his other hand still wrapped around the small box still in his pocket. He takes a deep breath and takes out the box and opens it, his hands shaking, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, however long or short the remaining of it might be, I want to wake up with you, go to sleep with you.” he sees Macy biting her lower lip, her eyes filling with tears, a smile peeking through, slowly forming in the corners of her mouth. He takes out the small box, his hands shaking as he opens it, the lights from around the dock reflecting in the diamonds and emeralds of the ring.

A gasp escapes her lips and Harry feels his throat closing, nerves picking up, he tries to kneel down, fumbling, almost as if his knees forgot how to work and ends up getting down on both knees, Macy’s lip drawn tightly between her teeth as she tries to swallow the laugh that is surely building up in her throat. “Macy Vaughn, will you marry me?”

Her glove covered hands cup his face pulling him closer, her lips are a little cold to the touch, the air around them is close to freezing, but she kisses him till their both breathless. Somewhere in between she pulls him up, his knees protesting at the sudden move but he doesn’t mind, his right knee still trying to heal from being broken by Godric six months ago. Magic and potions could only heal so much before they had to let nature and time to take their course. She pulls back a large bright smile on her lips, “Yes” she whispers against his lips.

He slides the ring to her finger and for a moment he wonders which of the two shines brighter, diamonds or her smile.

‘ _Her smile’_ he thinks, her smile always wins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end of this universe, probably, I am thinking of maybe adding more stories to it to delve deeper into Harry's recovery, and probably even the merge.   
> Let me know what you think about it.


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